I’ve been looking for a traditional looking smart lock without a keypad. Only one I found was the Kwikset Traditional Signature Deadbolt with Home Connect. I belive this is a Z-Wave lock. Would it be best to wait until they come out with a Z-Wave Plus version for its increased security. Better range and better battery life would be a bonus, but more concerned about the security aspect obviously.
No time like the present. If someone wanted to break in they will.
Locks are just meant to keep honest people honest.
There are a few Z-wave Plus locks from Yale certified by the Z-Wave Alliance, but there is no way of knowing when they will be commercially available.
Z-wave range and power useage are serious issues with Z-wave locks. For reliable performance I started installing Z-Wave switches/outlets near the door with the lock. SmartThings indicated that Z-wave locks tended to have a range of about 10 ft, so a hub or repeater needed to be within that range for reliable message relay. Z-Wave Plus is backward compatible, so if you got a ZW+ open/close sensor and switch/outlet you would be ready to update to ZW+ lock later when they are on the market. In the meantime at least the the connection between the hub and repeater near the lock would be more secure.
However, I also agree with @Tolik. Locks merely keep honest people honest. If someone really wants in they can just break in through a window.
You probably already know this, but for those who don’t, AZ wave lock requires that the nearest repeater have “beaming” capability. Not all do.
http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Beaming
You can check the official “conformance statement” on the Z wave alliance site and see whether any device supports beaming or not.
http://products.z-wavealliance.org
There’s no particular security improvement in Z wave plus over Z wave, however. So if that was your only reason for waiting there’s no reason to do that. The main benefit that you would see as a customer is the longer range and improved battery life.
Z-Wave Plus products make use of the latest advancements in Z-Wave technology. These advancements provide for longer battery life, faster operation, better RF coverage and easier installation. Classic Z-Wave products may take advantage of some of these newer advancements but are not required to use all of the latest technology. It is important to note that there over 40 million classic Z-Wave products in use every day and these products meet the needs of most applications satisfactorily.
In my lock work (as a hobbyist) I would strongly recommend against the Kwikset EZ-Set locks (pictured). The physical lock tumbler is very easily opened without leaving a mark. The innards are plastic.
As far as Z-Wave locks, I personally wouldn’t use them. I have a Schage combination lock that serves my purposes. (But this is my opinion, and it would be unpopular on an HA forum.)
Hmm, for some reason I thought that either the secure join or encryption was improved on Z+. Guess not.
I have a few Zooz Z+ light switches a few feet from the door in question. Hopefully those have Beaming. I checked the website but couldn’t figure out where whether it had Beaming or not was listed.
Cool. So if they don’t support AES 128-bit Security, should they be used for Beaming to locks though?
Two completely separate features. Beaming is just for power management.
Z wave locks have their own security method that existed before they added the AES security option. Messages beamed to them are encrypted, they’re just not necessarily encrypted with that particular protocol.
BTW, I agree that if you are very concerned about security, Kwikset is likely to be your last choice of the big three. Ask any locksmith. Yale and Schlage are in a different class.
Check out this video.
Also, I forgot (I told you I was tired)… The repeater is just passing along the message packet. Neither encrypts nor decrypts it. So it doesn’t add any additional security to the message itself. The hub and the lock have the ability to read and write the encrypted messages. That’s where the support for the security protocol is required. The repeater is just passing it along.
That’s how secure messages can travel a path that includes some nonsecure Devices without compromising the integrity of the message. Since they don’t have to read anything except the address header, they don’t need the security key.
Beaming has to do with how many times the message transmission is attempted. But it doesn’t have to read the actual message.
The older Kwikset locks are OK, they are easily refitted with security pins, but the keyway profile is weak. I was being very specific about the SmartKey locks (see video).
Schlage is economical and secure (enough), I have their electronic combo locks on my house. Yale is better, but you pay for it.
So it’s Feb 2018… Still no Z-wave Plus locks out there? I have been waiting for two years now.
US or UK? There are quite a few available in the US now, including the August Pro and the newest locks in the Yale Assure line.
https://products.z-wavealliance.org/regions/2/categories/6/products
In the UK, both Yale and Danalock have Z wave plus locks on the market.
https://products.z-wavealliance.org/regions/1/categories/6/products
